Head honchos of Hanjin, Cosco resign

Young Min Kim, president and CEO of Hanjin Shipping, has stepped down, taking responsibility for the continuing company losses and delays in acquiring financial aid from leading creditor banks.

The company, South Korea’s largest shipping line, said in a statement yesterday it had accepted Young’s resignation. Young had been the president and CEO of Hanjin Shipping since January 2009 and will stay in his post until his successor is found.

Debt-ridden Hanjin reportedly recorded a loss in each of the past 10 quarters.

Meanwhile, China’s state-controlled shipping line China Cosco Holdings announced the resignation of executive director Xu Minjie, who was reportedly under probe as part of the country’s anticorruption campaign.

Xu, who is also executive vice president of China Ocean Shipping, vice chairman of China International Marine Containers Group Co., and chairman of Cosco Logistics, quit for “personal reasons,” according to a company statement released late last week.

The investigation of Xu is regarded as part of the new government’s intensifying crackdown against corruption at state-owned enterprises in order to pave the way for market-oriented reforms.

Former Cosco group chairman Wei Jiafu has also been prevented from leaving China, said media reports, something that the company has denied.